The Speaker One-Sheet Is NOT Dead!

(Vonda here: We’re getting ready to update our speaker pages here at Christian Communicators, so I thought this would be a good time to reprint this post from four years ago. I hope it encourages all speakers out there to get to work on your one-sheet. It could be the key to landing a ministry opportunity.)

I heard someone say recently that the speaker one-sheet was dead. Well, just as Mark Twain said reports of his death were greatly exaggerated, reports of the death of one-sheets is exaggerated as well. The truth is, one-sheets have simply taken on a new medium–the download.

I know I’m showing my age here, but when I first began speaking, event planners wanted a printed one-sheet and the ability to listen to cassette tapes of a full presentation. Then it went to CDs of full presentations. Then CDs of full presentations with excerpts from other presentations. Then it went to DVDs of presentations. Today event planners want a short (2-4 minute) YouTube or other-hosted video reel of our speaking in a variety of settings. It’s often at this point that the event planner will make the first cut and decide who she wants to investigate further.

But that doesn’t mean the one-sheet is dead. After the event planners watch the videos and make the first cut, then they will often visit or revisit our websites, looking for our one-sheets. If the one-sheets seems to be a good fit as well and we’re in the final group to be considered, they will often download and print out the one-sheet for each of the team members. At that point, it’s likely the ladies will look at the video links and the one-sheets and make their final decision, or at least their next cut.

The good news is, this means we don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars in printing one-sheets. (The last one-sheet I had printed was at least $1 each!) But depending on your skill level, it may mean you need to invest in a professionally-prepared one-sheet. But whether you pay to have them created or you do them yourself, just remember, it’s a reflection of you, so make it as professional as possible.

Then make sure it’s visible on your website and can be easily downloaded. And don’t forget, since Word files with photos and a variety of fonts will often lose their formatting when downloaded, be sure you upload them as a PDF file.

So there you have it. There’s no need to grieve the death of the one-sheet. But there is reason to take a hard look at your sheet and make sure it’s a good representation of you and your ministry. It could be the difference between a quick pass or a long-term commitment…with the simple click of a mouse.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect… 1 Peter 3:15

Great reminder about the fonts that aren’t user friendly when down loaded. We do save $ with down loading one-sheets in today’s business side of marketing our ministry. However, we need to save face with down load challenges. Timely topic. Thanks for keeping us up to date in getting our one sheets into event planners hands with ease and a professional look. Teach on!